A Royal Pain
Fansided

Sacramento Kings: “Welcome to basketball hell!”?

By Michael Aloysius O'Reilly

Dec 8, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach George Karl between guard Marco Belinelli (3), guard Rajon Rondo (9) and forward Rudy Gay (8) during the third quarter against the Utah Jazz at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Utah Jazz 114-106. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 8, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach George Karl between guard Marco Belinelli (3), guard Rajon Rondo (9) and forward Rudy Gay (8) during the third quarter against the Utah Jazz at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Utah Jazz 114-106. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Sacramento Kings have been the butt of jokes around the NBA for years. How did this happen? Who’s responsible and what’s the cure? Why did Rudy Gay’s hammer of a welcome to George Karl upon arrival as coach—“Welcome to basketball hell!”—hit the nail on the head?

It started with the Maloofs whose ownership saw the Kings descend from the No. 4 sports franchise to No. 121 in 9 years. The Maloof siblings operated by consensus. Was that a problem?

How much input did the Maloofs have in first-round picks like Jimmer Fredette, Quincy Douby, Jason Thompson, Thomas Robinson, Spencer Hawes, and Gerald Wallace?

These are all talented men, but for the most part, second tier players. In the past sixteen years, the Kings have only drafted two All-Star players—DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas, who now, sadly, Thomas is now with the Boston Celtics.

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The parade of unsuccessful coaches has been dispiriting. DeMarcus Cousins was instrumental in getting both Paul Westphal and George Karl canned. Coaches and general managers (GM) trade off difficult players; in a well-functioning organization, it should not be the other way around.

DeMarcus has been the Kings’ royal star for 6 years, but his temper, moods, technical fouls, and locker room rants have been a drag on the team and seem to have canceled out much of his athletic artistry.

The Maloofs ran the team into the ground, okay. But Vivek Ranadive, with a little more than a preening ego–a rich man buying a toy–hired a coach before a GM, dumped the coach and the GM, then assembled nerds with spreadsheets to pick Nik Stauskas (traded after one year) in the 2014 draft, and then retreated to a fabled star in Vlade Divac as GM.

It wasn’t because Vlade had demonstrated any ability to build a team beforehand, but because somehow Vivek trusted him. Vlade in June drafted or traded for five potential stars, but it’s much too early to tell if his vision will earn the Kings some solid starters–or All Stars.

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For the Kings to escape scorn and the cellar, DeMarcus has to become not just a great player—he is that already—but a complete man. New Head Coach Dave Joerger needs to pull the team together, Vivek needs to devote himself to the digital excellence of the Golden 1 Center, and Vlade needs to make the players proud to be in Sacramento and not fleeing egregious dysfunction, players such as Marco Belinelli, Seth Curry, and Rudy Gay.

And finally, Vlade has got to draft and trade for great talent to build a great organization with all the athletes focused on a championship come hell or high water. A great challenge? Sure. But all the championship teams have done just that.

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